Round one of Fantasy Bourbon draws to a close today. Two of the ranked players, Pappy Van Winkle 15-Year and Four Roses 125th Anniversary Small Batch defended their rankings and defeated Old Forester Birthday Bourbon and A. Bowman Last Millennium. We had one upset when Elijah Craig Barrel Proof defeated the veteran barrel proof beast George T. Stagg. Today is the last Round One match featuring the seventh annual release of the venerable Parker's Heritage Collection bourbon against the second release of Angel's Envy Cask Strength.

Two Legendary Whiskey Masters

Whoever wins today, the bourbons that we're featuring are the work of two Hall of Fame Master Distillers with a lifetime of dedication to the art of whiskey-making. Seven generations of Beam's have made whiskey at Heaven Hill. Parker has given fifty years to the craft. The annual Parker's Heritage Collection bourbons are legendary. Each year has featured a different bourbon including cask strength, cognac finished, wheated, and one of the best whiskies we've ever tasted - Release 2, a 27-Year Bourbon. In Parker's honor, this year's Promise of Hope release is dedicated to the fight against ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), and Heaven Hill will donate $20 per bottle to the ALS Promise Fund.

Lincoln Henderson was Master Distiller at Brown-Forman for over forty years and came out of retirement to found Angel's Envy. Sadly he passed away just a couple of weeks after completing the release of this year's limited edition Angel's Envy Cask Strength.

PHC: Awesome nose. Very sweet, starting with shortbread and honey, opening up with citrus (Meyer lemons? tart tangerines?) and ripe stone fruits. There is some subtle oak and some spice (vanilla and cinnamon / nutmeg). Everything comes together nicely in a perfume/musky bouquet. Very inviting.

AECS: Totally different from the perfumy & subtle nose of the PHC, the AECS is a whopping richness of brown butter, molasses, & chocolate (our initial notes of french toast hold true) also with some complexity of wood, leather polish, and exotic spices. The PHC is a refined and sexy nose, but the AECS wins with a simply mouth-watering richness that makes you want to jump into the glass and float in it.

AECS: Immediately we notice that it's much thicker on the tongue than the PHC. We get our first acquaintance with the port wine casks wrapping the palate with red grapes and Swedish Fish. Then comes the big brown butter, molasses, cocoa back for an amazing richness. Again this is really "apples-to-oranges", but the AECS takes the palate. Lovers of dry woody bourbon may well prefer the PHC, and perhaps it's a more integrated and classic taste. But the AECS is taking flavor in a completely new direction and it wins in both boldness and creativity.

End Game

PHC: Quick balanced finish with a short punch of caramel, wood, and tobacco.

AECS: While it's still a bourbon finish (much shorter than a well-peated single malt), the AECS is much longer and more flavorful than the PHC. The sweetness and fruits play against the wood and subtle char for a nice sweet barbecue smoke that drifts up from the belly up the back of the throat. The huge ABV on this one (61.5%, 123 proof) really bumps up the intensity of the finish, and while it's no shame to add a few drops of water to a barrel proof bourbon, the thought never crossed our minds.

Final Score

While this was a shutout on paper, with the Angel's Envy taking all three categories - nose, palate, and finish - that score doesn't do justice to the Parker's Heritage. It's a wonderful bourbon with subtlety, finesse, and an amazing drinkability. Again, this may just be a matter of taste, with folks who prefer a compact, punchy old-school taste going for the PHC. But in our book, the Angel's Envy has really bumped it up a notch this year, obviously selecting a top quality stock of bourbon and showing some artistic touches on the barreling.